Why Insulin in Type 2 diabetes may not be a wise choice

In Type 2 diabetic patients, diabetes is one of the manifestations of a seriously harmful disease process in the body called insulin resistance. Simply put, insulin resistance means your own insulin—a hormone naturally produced by the pancreas—becomes less effective in doing its job. In response to this insulin resistance, the pancreas produces more and more insulin. This large amount of insulin is not good for your body.

High Insulin in Type 2 Diabetes Causes High Blood Pressure

A high level of insulin in type 2 diabetes causes high blood pressure. This association between high insulin levels and the development of high blood pressure has been confirmed by several researchers (1).

High Insulin in Type 2 diabetes Causes Narrowing of the Blood Vessels

A high level of insulin in type 2 diabetes causes narrowing of the blood vessels, including coronary arteries. In this way, high insulin is associated with coronary artery disease. This association has been documented by several excellent clinical studies—The Helsinki Policeman Study (2), the Paris Prospective Study (3), and the Danish Study (4).

How does insulin cause heart disease? Insulin stimulates smooth muscle cell growth in the walls of the arteries. This leads to thickening and stiffness of arterial walls, which, in turn, contributes to narrowing of blood vessels (5).

High Insulin in Type 2 diabetes Causes Growth of Tumors, Including Cancer

A high level of insulin in type 2 diabetes also leads to the growth of tumors, benign as well as malignant. Why? Because insulin is a growth-promoting hormone. It causes growth of tissues – benign as well as cancerous. Several clinical studies have shown a high prevalence of cancer in people with Insulin Resistance Syndrome. Certain cancers, especially breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer are linked to insulin resistance.

An excellent, large clinical study, known as the Nurses Health Study was published in 2003 in Diabetes Care (6). In this study, 111,488 American female nurses who were thirty to fifty-five years old and free of cancer in 1976 were followed through 1996 for the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes and through 1998 for breast cancer. Women with Type 2 diabetes were found to have a higher incidence of breast cancer than those who did not have diabetes.

Why Insulin in Type 2 Diabetes May be Harmful

Now imagine if a typical obese Type 2 diabetic patient, who is already producing a large amount of insulin as a result of insulin resistance, starts insulin to control the elevated blood sugars. Typically you need large doses of insulin -more than 40 units per day- to control blood sugars in obese type 2 diabetics. Giving large doses of insulin in type 2 diabetes is like adding fuel to the fire, isn’t it? That patient is already at high risk for heart disease, hypertension and cancer growth due to high insulin level. Adding more insulin in the form of insulin may control elevated blood sugar, but will increase the risk for high blood pressure, heart attack and cancer. The reverse is also true: If you treat Type 2 diabetes by treating its root cause, the insulin resistance, then you can reduce the risk of heart attack and cancer.

An excellent study from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that patients with Type 2 diabetes who used insulin were 5 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer compared to those who did not use insulin. On the other hand, patients who were on Metformin had a 62% lower risk for developing pancreatic cancer (7).

Metformin treats insulin resistance. Therefore, it was no surprise that Metformin caused a decrease in the risk for pancreatic cancer in this study.

Insulin also causes weight gain, retention of water and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Low blood sugar can be life-threatening. Perhaps now you can understand why the myopic approach to control blood sugar by insulin can be disastrous in many Type 2 diabetic patients.

Note:

An occasional thin patient with type 2 diabetes may need a small dose of insulin -less than 20 units per day. This small dose of insulin should not increase the risk of heart disease or cancer in these thin type 2 diabetics. However, even this small dose of insulin increases the risk of hypoglycemia.

Caution:

You must never stop insulin or any other medication, without consulting your health care provider.

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About sarfraz zaidi

About Dr. Zaidi
Dr. Sarfraz Zaidi, MD, is a leading Endocrinologist in the USA. He is a medical expert on thyroid, diabetes, vitamin D, and stress management. He is the director of the Jamila Diabetes and Endocrine Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. He is a former assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA.
Books and Articles:
Base upon his vast medical experience of thirty five years, in three continents, Dr. Zaidi loves to spread his pearls of wisdom through his writings. He is a prolific writer and has authored these books:"Reverse Your Type 2 Diabetes Scientifically", "Power of Vitamin D", "Stress Cure Now", Graves' Disease And Hyperthyroidism", Hypothyroidism And Hashimoto's Thyroiditis", "Stress Management for Teenagers, Parents and Teenagers", "Take Charge of Your Diabetes" and “Wake Up While You Can”. In addition, he has authored numerous articles in prestigious medical journals.
Memberships:
In 1997, Dr. Zaidi was inducted as a Fellow to the American College of Physicians (FACP). In 1999, he was honored to be a Fellow of the American College of Endocrinology (FACE).
Speaker:
Dr. Zaidi has been a guest speaker at medical conferences and also frequently lectures the public. He has been interviewed on TV, newspapers and national magazines. Dr. Zaidi taught resident physicians at the Endocrine Clinic at the Olive-View UCLA Medical Center.
Internet:
Dr. Zaidi also regularly writes on these websites:
www.OnlineMedinfo, which provides in depth knowledge about endocrine disorders such as, Thyroid, Parathyroid, Vitamin D Osteoporosis, Obesity, PreDiabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Menopause, Low Testosterone, and More.
www.DiabetesSpecialist, which is dedicated to providing extensive knowledge to Diabetics.
www.InnerPeaceAndLove, which is an inspirational website, exploring the Mind-Body connection.
He has done educational YouTube videos about:
1.Vitamin D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMM8d0LrNA
2. Insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYkMZKKmcBA
3. Management of the stress of daily Living
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5XFFKCR6Cw
His main website: www.DoctorZaidi.com
All of his books are available at Amazon.com